Logitech Pop Is A Slick Programmable Button For Your Home Automation Hijinks

It's still relatively early in the smart home movement that's been making headway into the mainstream market and that means there's a ton of untapped potential for creative and innovative solutions. One of them was just introduced by Logitech—it's the Pop Home Switch, or basically a programmable button that can control multiple smart home devices.

You can program up to three different action sequences in each switch, which in turn are initiated by a single press, double press, or a long press. For example, you might program a single press to turn lighting on or off, a double press to lock the doors, or a long press to initiate an activity like movie night whereby the Pop dims the lights and turns on the TV, cable, and surround sound receiver.

"Sometimes you just want to set the mood for movie night without opening multiple apps to turn down the lights, turn on the TV and the sound bar and draw the blinds." said Renee Niemi, head of the Smart Home business at Logitech. "With Pop, you can do all that with a press of the switch. It makes the smart home simple and accessible for everyone — not just the person with the smartphone."

The Pop is all about convenience and harnessing your smart home setup with easy-to-use controls. To that end, Logitech says setup is simple. The Pop app for Android and iOS scans your wireless network for compatible devices, then allows you to assign those devices to a switch or combine them into a single trigger using what Logitech calls Recipes.

"So, if you want to set the mood with lighting and the music turned up for date night, you can do that easily with a single press of Pop. Or if your kids want the music tuned to a specific playlist or the lights bright to help them concentrate when they’re studying, they can easily do that with another press," Logitech explains.

Pop can also be paired with a Logtech Harmony hub-based remote, which itself is an awesome product that can control multiple devices. When paired, a Pop Home Switch can be used to trigger a one-touch Harmony activity.

The Logitech Pop Home Switch Starter Pack with two Home switches (batteries included), plug-in bridge, mounting tape, and user documentation will be available this month for $100. Additional Pop Home Switches will sell for $40.